The Christ of glory as the excellent treasure is received by the believers through the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ. We need to remember that we have within us the treasure, a living person who is more excellent than the world. Christ is the most excellent One in the whole universe; there is nothing that is more excellent than He. Since we have Christ as the treasure, the most excellent One and the most lovely One, we do not love the world. It is not that we should not love the world but that the world is inferior to the treasure, the excellent and lovely Christ. We treasure the Lord more than the world.
The illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of Christ, has shined on us. The gospel of the glory of Christ in 4:4 corresponds with the knowledge of the glory of God in verse 6. We need to note that according to verse 6 the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God is in the face of Jesus Christ. This indicates that the gospel preached by the apostle was not a doctrine, theology, or teaching; rather, it was a lovely person on whose face we can see the glory of God, the image of God. When we experience the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ, this shining brings into us Christ as the image of God. We are attracted to such a Christ.
In 2 Corinthians 4:7 Paul goes on to say “that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us.” The Greek word for excellency also means “transcendence, surpassingness, and exceeding greatness.” The fact that we are earthen vessels proves that the excellency of the power is of God and not out of us. In ourselves we are nothing more than earthen vessels; we are sinful, fallen, and low. As such, we do not have the power to manifest the truth and shine forth the glory of the gospel. The excellency of the power is not out of us—it is of God. Although we are worthless earthen vessels, God has shined this precious treasure into us. Now this treasure becomes the source of the power energizing us and enabling us to shine forth God’s glory and to manifest the truth.
We need to see that Christ as the marvelous treasure in earthen vessels empowers and energizes us from within. He supplies us continually with the excelling power through His dispensing, thereby constituting us, the worthless and weak vessels, as ministers of a new covenant (3:6). As believers, we have Christ operating within us as a living and active treasure. This treasure even constrains us to do certain things (5:14). This treasure is the power, the source of strength, for the apostles to behave themselves in such a way as to shine the gospel and manifest the truth.
We are the earthen vessels to contain the Christ of glory as the excellent treasure. These vessels are like today’s camera, into which Christ the figure enters through the flash of God’s shining. The shining reality of Christ is the treasure in us, the earthen vessels. Outwardly we are earthen vessels, but inwardly we have a priceless treasure—Christ as the embodiment of the processed Triune God to be the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. This treasure has a power, and this power is excellent. Christ as the life-giving Spirit in us is the One who shines and works. This is the treasure we have in us.
Within us, we have Christ as an excellent treasure; outside us, we bear Christ as the image of God, the embodiment and expression of the Triune God. According to Hebrews 1:3, Christ is the effulgence of God’s glory; that is, He is the expression of the image of God. When we believed in the Lord Jesus, we received more than simply a Redeemer; we received the most excellent One, the highest excellence, in the universe. Through the shining of the gospel, Christ was illuminated into our being. Now Christ, the embodiment and expression of the Triune God, is in us. Within us, Christ is the excellent treasure; outside us, He is the image, the expression, of God. Daily we need to experience and enjoy Christ as the treasure within and the image of God without.